I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft:
Protection of Young Persons (Employment of Close Relatives) Regulations, 1996,
a copy of which in draft was laid before Dáil Éireann on 4th November, 1996.
That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft:
Protection of Young Persons (Employment) (Exclusion of Workers in the Fishing or Shipping Sectors) Regulations, 1996,
a copy of which in draft was laid before Dáil Éireann on 4th November 1996.
That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft:
Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Prescribed Abstract) Regulations, 1996,
a copy of which in draft was laid before Dáil Éireann on 4th November, 1996.
These motions seek the approval of Dáil Éireann for draft regulations I propose to make under the Protection of Young Persons (Employment of Close Relatives) Regulations, 1996, which we passed before the summer recess. As Deputies will recall, that Act requires affirmative resolutions of both Houses.
The Act passed by both Houses and signed into law by the President last June revises and extends the legislation relating to the protection of children and young people in employment. It repeals the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1977, and other employment protection legislation relating to young people dating back to the 1940s, consolidates them in the new Act and gives effect to the EU Council Directive on the Protection of Young People at Work. It is proposed to bring this Act into operation by way of a commencement order as soon as these regulations, which are necessary to give the legislation full effect, are approved.
The regulations being made under section 8 (1) of the Act modify the application of the Act to young people employed in the fishing or shipping sectors. It is proposed that the provisions relating to working hours and night work will not apply to such young people. These sectors were exempted from these provisions of the 1977 Act and Articles 8.5 and 9.2 of the EU Directive also allow a derogation for those sectors from those provisions where there are objective grounds for doing so. We signalled that during the debate in the House earlier this year. The employment of such workers is usually intermittent and seasonal and may entail long spells on and off duty. For these reasons, compliance with these provisions would be impractical.
It is noted that young workers in these sectors are covered by other provisions, including minimum age. Furthermore, any young person assigned to night work must have equivalent compensatory rest time. Under regulations I propose to make under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989, a young person will be entitled to free assessment of his or her capabilities before assignment to night work and at regular intervals thereafter.
The regulations proposed under section 9 of the Act exclude close relatives from certain provisions of the Act. These provisions relate to the prohibition of employment of children, duties of employer, working hours and time spent in vocational training. These regulations will replace similar regulations made under the 1977 legislation. During the passage of this Act through the Dáil, Deputy Tom Kitt tabled an amendment to this effect. I signalled at that stage that we would make this amendment by way of regulations. These regulations replace similar provisions in the 1977 legislation.
Close relatives are defined as family members — spouse, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, stepfather, stepmother, brother, sister, half brother or half sister — who are employed at a private dwelling house or on a farm where both employer and employee reside or in a family undertaking. These regulations will facilitate young people who wish to work on a family farm or in a family business. The point was made during the debate that it was important for young people to be able to help out in the family business.
The regulations under section 28 of the Act prescribe the abstract of the Act, which is required to be displayed by every employer of young people at the premises where the young people work. An employer who does not display the prescribed abstract of the Act should be guilty of an offence and may on summary conviction be fined up to £1,500 and a further £250 per day in the case of a continuing offence. The abstract summarises in simple language the main rules in employing young people under 18 and will be available free of charge in both poster and leaflet form from the information unit of the Department of Enterprise and Employment. We have designed an attractive and eye catching poster because I want this abstract to be seen and read by young people. We have taken steps to ensure the information is made available in a user friendly way. I also propose to make regulations under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994, whereby the employer will be required to give a copy of the abstract to every employee under 18 within one month of the employee starting work. This point was made strongly during the debate in the Seanad and these regulations fulfil an undertaking I made there. It is important that young people know their rights and entitlements under the legislation. An information campaign about the Act will be launched as soon as the commencement order is made.
We had a good debate on this legislation as it went through the House and I was pleased to take on board constructive suggestions by members of the Opposition parties after I took further legal advice. We were able, for example, to relax conditions for young people working at weekends or at holiday time, when they did not have school the next morning, and to extend the maximum time from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. The Act was welcomed by Deputy Tom Kitt and Deputy Quill, both former teachers. It places the employment of young people firmly in the context that education comes first because their long-term job security is tied in with their opportunity to get a good education. There is a clear link between early school leaving and long-term unemployment and this was made clear during the debate. We have tried to update our law to ensure there is adequate protection for young people and that the rules regarding work are placed in the context that education comes first for young people of school age.
I commend the regulations to the House.